ok so here's the deal. my brother wants a car to beat his buddy's 280hp SRT-4 (who runs 13.7's which is absolutely terrible for that car & mods but anyway...) and i think i have found the car to do it relatively cheap and reliably.
we recently looked at an 86 supra turbo with 122k miles. this is the damn cleanest 20 year old car i have ever seen- being sold by original owner, all service records at a local dealership and its a completely stock turbo model. turbo was replaced at 65k and the engine was 'rebuilt' less than 10k miles ago. from what the service records at the dealership show it wasnt totally rebuilt, but one rod bearing spum and it recieved 1 new piston/rod combo and a new crankshaft- i am going to assume that the mains and all rod bearings were replaced but the other 5 cylinders are still on 122k rings and bores. still need to inquire as to wether or not the top end is original or been replaced.
the car is garaged every winter and it shows, there is absolutely no rust and its very clean- except when inspecting it i think i saw evidence of a small oil leak- maybe the oil pan?
first questoin: do you think this car is worth what he is asking- which is $5000USD??? i have a hard time believing that because the kelly bluebook is only like $2500 but still to find a car that is all original, no accidents, and this clean i could see paying $3500 for it. the only things that concern me (and selling points to lower his asking price) are 1: the small oil leak and 2: the fact that the last 2 times he brought it to the dealer, the records note that 'customer claimed turbo makes unusual noise when decelerating.' with it being replaced at 65k abd now at 122k i can easily tell even without driving it that the turbo is on its way out- which is kind of a good thing because i want to make this beast fast
but if we can talk this guy to 3500 we will almost for sure buy it, maybe 4000 but i still think thats a lil steep. oh BTW its a 5-speed- no automatics in my family's garage
anywho, been reading on here a bit and i assume that this car has the '5' series engine not the '7' which is in the MKIII and better, but i dont think this engine should have much a problem breaking 13's. from what i read, its pretty much a job of replacing the head gasket for a metal one and upgrading the studs and start upping the boost. upgraded piping and intercooler is a given, but what about the ECU? does it have a pressur sensor that activates a 'limp mode' or cutoff of some sort if it sees too much boost? anyone have problems maxing out the stock MAF system and if so, at what HP/CFM? target HP of this car shouldnt be much more tha 375 or so and i figure with a decent turbo around 12-14psi we should be set. just gotta size a turbo for this app, any suggestions on what manifold i should use or is the stock one fit for the job? i will probably fabricate the whole turbo back exhaust but if anyone has any good deals let me know (by good deals i mean good quality at a low price, not a $149 ebay special).
oh and what should i do about wheels? i was thinking 17x7.5 in rear and 17x7 in front, 255 and 235 widths respectively? what offsets are best (from experience) when using 7 or 7.5" rims? and hows the suspension (still havent driven it yet) is it mostly understeer or how balanced is this particular chassis?